The presence of a woman at a PGA Tour event raised a few eyebrows, but had Annika Sorenstam made the cut at the Colonial and advanced to weekend play, it would have opened even more eyes.

“It would have been interesting,” ISU golfer Kevin Oswald said. “It would have made a lot of guys out there sweat.”

Sorenstam became just the second woman to compete on the PGA Tour — the first since Babe Zaharias competed in the Los Angeles Open in 1945 — but she shot 71—74 and finished at a 5-over-par 145 Friday to miss the cut by four strokes. Large galleries at each hole witnessed Sorenstam’s every move. Kenny Perry won the event with a 19-under-par 261 after playing the weekend without Sorenstam on the course. He finished six strokes better than runner-up Justin Leonard.

But Sorenstam’s appearance overshadowed Perry’s dominance. Even though the Swedish-born golfer came up short on her goal of shooting level par, ISU men’s golf coach Jay Horton said her performance still had an impact on people’s perceptions of the event.

“I guess my feelings probably changed throughout the weekend,” said Horton, who has played in two PGA Tour events. “I was a little skeptical at first because I thought some things were going to be very difficult for her. I was impressed with how long she could actually hit it. I think she won a lot of people over all weekend.”

One perception prior to the tournament was that Sorenstam would have the most trouble with the length of the 7,080-yard course. Horton said she proved the doubters wrong on that front.

“Everybody who saw it realized the reason she didn’t make the cut was because she didn’t make any putts. She was right there,” Horton said. “That tells me right there that she can play with anybody.”

ISU golfer Leanne Owens said she watched the tournament closely and rooted for Sorenstam.

“I think it’s great,” Owens said. “She’s just looking for the best competition she can play against. It’s just another challenge for her.”

Sorenstam said before the tournament, she just hoped to see where she stacked up against the world’s best. The 32-year-old has dominated the LPGA Tour with 43 career victories. She has won its player-of-the-year award five times.

With a track record like that, it’s not surprising that Sorenstam wanted more of a challenge, Owens said.

“She’s been cleaning up on the LPGA Tour and she wanted to see what she had against the men,” Owens said. “But she knows she’s not going to beat everybody.”

Oswald said he doesn’t see anything wrong with letting Sorenstam compete at the Colonial. He said the only aspect that bothered him somewhat was that Sorenstam’s appearance may have kept an up-and-coming collegiate golfer out of the tournament.

“She’s definitely proven that she’s the best women’s player in the world, and the PGA charter says the tour is for the best players in the world,” Oswald said. “It doesn’t say anything specific about women.”

In the professional ranks, women have traditionally played on the LPGA Tour, but Sorenstam was selected as a sponsor’s exemption for the Colonial and accepted the invitation. Owens said even though Sorenstam failed to advance to weekend play, she hopes it makes a positive statement about women’s golf at all levels. She said it might even attract some more attention to the LPGA Tour, which is often given less attention than the men’s equivalent.

“There’s always going to be the skeptics, but I think it’s doing a great thing for women’s golf in general,” Owens said.

Oswald said the publicity benefits the sport as a whole.

“It’s definitely good for the game,” Oswald said. “Any type of publicity, as long as it’s positive, which I think this is, is good for the game.”

Owens said she doesn’t predict any overachieving women golfers to take a permanent spot on the PGA Tour. She said rules would have to change and some people wouldn’t be in favor of going against tradition.

“I just don’t see it going much further,” Owens said. “There are two separate tours and there are reasons for it.”

Oswald said that may be a good thing for some of the lesser-known golfers trying to stay on the PGA Tour.

“I can tell you I definitely wouldn’t want to go up against her day in and day out,” Oswald said.